Internal combustion engine



Jan. 31, 1933. c K, DwA 1,895,981

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 12, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet. l

Fig. 3.

lNl/ENTOR Charles K.E dwav d5 HTTORNEY Jan. 31, 1933. K ED ARD 1,895,981

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 12, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNl/ENTOR HTTORNEV Jan. 31, 1933. c EDWARDS 7 1,895,981

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 12, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 6.

1 d e w d 5 lNVENTOR C hqvles K. E dwa d ATTORNEY 1933- c. K. EDWARDS INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 12, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 9.

M ma Tw d E K ms m a h C HTTORNE V Patented Jan. 31, 1933 PATENT OFFICE 1 UNITED STATES CHARLES KEARNS EDWARDS, F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO MORRIS COI- HERCIAL CARS LIMITED, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Application filed May 12, 1930, Serial No. 451,877, and in Great Britain May 23, 1929.

This invention relates to power units and gear-boxes for self-propelled vehicles and control means therefor.

' Owing to the diversity of the laws and cusi I toms'in some countries relating to the rules of the road, the controls of self-propelled vehicles must be so disposed that the driver sits on the off side of the vehicle and in other cases the steering and other controls must be so disposed that the driver sits on the near side of the present invention is to provide power units which are readily adaptable to suit the right positions is required in substantially the same chassis,'for example, a right hand forward control, a left hand forward control anda central control position when the driver is seated behind the power unit, as is customary in the majority of vehicles.

According to the present invention, the engine or the major parts thereof is arranged to be reversible, so that the carburettor, exhaust pipes and other parts may be arranged on either side of the engine by assembling the engine in a right hand sense or in a left hand all sense. For this purpose, the engine or parts thereof are built with a looking glass symmetry so that it is merely necessary to reverse the parts or assemble them in-the desired sense to produce an engine of the required type. I I Y I According to a further feature of the present invention, the gearbox is attached to its support or supports sothat it may be secured in any one of'two or three positions with or without alteration to its structure so that the control mechanism is adapted to occupy the selected position. To'this end, the gearbox is attached to the power unit and another sup-' port in such a manner that it can occupy and be fixed in alternative positions and at the same time maintain the co-axial relationship of the main shaft with the driving element of the power unit.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an engine of vehicle; and the object of the.

which the cylinder and crankcase are formed as a single unit in accordance with-this invention.

Fig.2 is an end elevation at right angles to Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of another form of the invention in which the cylinders are reversible relatively to the crankcase.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the means for attaching the cylinder to the crankcase of the engine shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the engine shown in Fig. 3. 1

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of another construction according to the invention adaptedv for alternative change speed gear control positions. I

'F'g. 7 isan end view at right angles to Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan-view of the engine shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is an end view similar to that shown in Fig. 7 but with'the parts reversed for an engine of opposite hand.

According to the construction shown in Fig. 1 in which the cylinder blockforms part of the crankcase, the cylinder block a is provided at its two ends, i. e. the faces at the front and rear relative to its position in the chassis, with facings I) having apertures for the reception of the bolts or studs 0, said facings being identical andhaving the holding apertures arrangedsymmetrically about the vertical axis as m (Fig. 2) of the engine. One of the said facings is arranged to receive the housings d e for the flywheel and clutch while the facing may accommodate the: timing case 7 which usually forms the cover to protect the gearing by which the camshaft is driven from the crankshaft of the engine Where the camshaft is arranged in the vicinity of the cylinder top, the bearings g for block are arranged to be the same, and similarly the two outer crankshaft bearings, h are identical with each other. Where the said elevated camshaft is employed, it may be desirable to provide a right hand timing case and a left hand timing case, but with this exception all the parts may be identical with the camshaft at the two ends of the cylinder the two types of engines. The plane of division 2' between the crankcase j and the cylinder block a may be located considerably be low the horizontal axis of the engine and the crankcase or sump drilling is by preference arranged to produce a looking glass symmetry so as to enable it to be bolted or similarly fixed on either type of engine without alteration. The dynamo 7c and starter Z may be placed on either side of the engine to suit the right hand arrangement or the left hand arrangement.

The construction described is suitable for a four-cylinder engine in which the over-all length is of moderate dimensions, but wherea six-cylinder engine is employed an alterna tive construction may be used.

According to such an alternative construction, shown in Figs. 8 and 4, we may employ a reversible cylinder block m plus areversible crankcase or plus a symmetrical crankcase. Where only a reversible cylinder block is employed its attachment to the crankcase n is symmetrical so that it may be assembled in a right hand sense or in a left hand sense, the drilling 0 being symmetrical as shown ineFig. 4, and if an elevated camshaft is employed, a facing p for receiving the timing case is provided at each end of the cylinder block as in the case of a four cylinder block before described, the camshaft bearings being also symmetrical as in the first example. When using a symmetrical crankcase, it is not necessary to make the fly wheel and clutch housing (Z 6 interchangeable in its attachment to the crankcase, with that of-the timing cover. The junction 9 of the cylinder block -m with the crankcase n is advantageously along a line considerably above the horizontal axis of the engine as, for instance, at the lower extremities of the cylinder proper.

When a reversible crankcase is provided for, it is by preference formed as a rectangue lar structure, both when viewed in plan, Fig. 4, and when viewed in side elevation Fig. 3 and. be provided with a flat bottom. In this example the crankcase has looking glass symmetry, when viewed from the side and also when viewed from the ends, that is to say the two facings 7) (Fig. 3) and the drillings c ig. 5) are identical and symmetrical about a vertical axis.

In a similar manner provision may be made for an engine wherein the top of the engine is tilted to one side or to the other side as in the case where the engine is provided with forward control means, the object of the said inclination being to provide more room for the driver.

If desired, the flywheel and clutch housing 65 6 may be made in two parts split along a horizontal line Fig. 1 for convenience in assembly or disassembly. By preference the bearings for the crankshaft are formed with or supported from the cylinder block, whether the latter is separate from or integral with the crankcase.

In another embodiment Figs. 6-9, the gear control mechanism .9 is supported from a part of the power unit i. e. the flywheel housing on the crankcase is in offset relation to the longitudinal axis of the engine, two of such positions being provided symmetrically about the vertical axial plane of the engine. For a left hand forward control, the selector mechanism 8 and operating hand lever t are arranged in the left hand support or Fig. 9 and the opposite housing or support 4) is utilized for accommodating one of the organs appertaining to the power unit, such as a dynamo, starter motor or magneto to. When right hand forward control is desired, the change speed control 8 is placed in the right hand support 0 (Fig. 7 and the organ is placed in the left hand support u, or the support may be left blank when it is desired that the usual control means shall be positioned behind the power unit, the gear control mechanism being mounted in the usual way directly on the gearbox.

The bell or flywheel housing (Z, which surrounds the flywheel and clutch of the engine, is provided with excrescences or flanges adapted to form the housings or supports d for the control device. The latter may be of any suitable type and in one arrangement the control lever is enlarged or provided at its fulcrum point with a ball seating in a similarly shaped depression to enable the change speed hand lever to be moved in two planes at right angles for selecting the various speeds. The selector mechanism, change speed lever and supporting brackets may constitute a unit which may be fitted within a tunnel or circular chamber formed within the excrescences before mentioned. The unit thus constituted may be placed within the right hand tunnel or the left hand tunnel and similarly the organ occupying the opposite tunnel may be moved to the left or right hand position respectively. In either of these positions, the change speed hand lever may be inclined or leaned forward so that the handle or knob extremity occupies a position convenient for the driver of the vehicle. The selector rods a are extended rearwardly from the clutch housing towards the gear box I) which latter is conveniently bolted by means of a flange to the bell housing 6. In order that the rearwardly extending selector rods a may be coupled to the interior of the gearbox b the latter may be fitted with a radially directed bracket 0 which may be utilized for the right hand forward control position by merely turning the gearbox about the axis of the engine crankshaft. Thus the said bracket, instead of pointing to the right hand side, points to the left hand side, the outer. end of the bracket occupying one of two symmetrical positions about the vertical axial plane of the engine. The bolts, studs or other fixing means for securing the gearbox b to the clutch housing 0 may be so pitched as to accommodate either the right hand or left hand position.

For'the normal rearward control position, the gearbox is secured to the housing or other part from which it is suspended so that the control bracket falls in the vertical axial plane of the engine and is thus intermediate to the positions which it takes in the right hand arrangement and in the left hand arrangement. In this position, the selector mechanism and change speed hand lever and associated parts are mounted directlyon the gearbox.

The cost of manufacture is considerably reduced as compared with previous methods of building a right hand power unit or a left hand power unit, because all of the parts with the exception of the timing cover may be machined and prepared and finally assembled according to which ever type of engine is desired; moreover, even when the power unit has been built, either as a right hand type or a left hand type, it is a comparatively simple and inexpensive matter to convert it to the other type, since it is merely necessary to reverse the parts, and, where an elevated camshaft on the one side is used, to change the timing cover.

By my invention varying requirements for diverse control positions can be satisfied in a simple, cheap and effective manner, a

single bell housing being utilized for all three I positions, which facilitates manufacture and lends itself to a change of parts when the chassisis wholly or partially complete with a minimum of disturbance in manufacture.

It is also of considerable advantage in that it makes possible without great expense, change of control position after the chassis has been delivered to the buyer.

According to my invention a cylinder block which is reversible end for end is supported by the crankcase. The crank case itself may or may not be reversible, and it may or may not be integral with the cylinder block.

What I claim is 1. The combination of a crank case with a cylinder block mounted thereon and reversible end for end, one end of said casing having an end facing provided with attaching means symmetrically arranged about its ver-' tical axis, and a cam shaft gear casin secured to the attaching means on one si e of the vertical axis, the attachingmeans on the other side of said vertical axis serving for the attachment of a substitute gear casing when the controls are on the other side of the engine.

2. The combination with a crank case, a cylinder block detachably mounted thereon and reversible end for end with respect thereto, and a casing for the cam shaft gearing and a gear casing interchangeably mounte on the respective ends of the crank case.

3. The combination of a crank case reversible end for end with a cylinder block detachably mounted thereon and reversible end for end with respect thereto.

4. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a crank case with a cylinder block detachably mounted thereon and reversible end for end with respect thereto, and control devices adjustably mounted for lateral adjustment on the en ine.

5. In an internal com ustion engine, the combination of a crank case with a laterally inclined cylinder block mounted thereon and reversible end for end, and a control device laterally adjustable with respect to the engine.

6. a power unit having a control lever mounted thereon for lateral adjustment, in combination with a gear casing mounted at the end 8. In a device of the character described,

In a device of the character described,

a power unit, a control lever mounted thereon for lateral adjustment, a gear. box secured to the end of the power unitfor rotary adjustment, and gear controlling means mounted on the gear box and adjustable therewith to correspond to the different positions of the lever. j

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification at Birmingham,

England this 30th day of April 1930.

CHARLES KEARNS EDWARDS. 

